The present invention relates to a bridge device of the type defined in the appended claims 1 for passengers boarding and disembarking e.g. a ship.
When passengers disembark or enter cruise ships in different harbors a gangway is used to make the passage of people convenient. There are many issues that must be considered by the manufacturer of the gangway such as good accessibility for wheelchairs and possible emergency situations.
Gangways today often consist of installations shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. These installations show how gangway lengths of between 35-60 m are used to connect the arrival terminal with the cruise ship. As there are often differences in the height between the quay and the door of the ship, one end of the gangway can be adjusted vertically. Certain gangways are fixedly installed on the quay. This results in that the docking and of the ship and the connection to the gangway often is time consuming and difficult. Other gangways are often installed on rails to allow adjustment of the gangway in the longitudinal direction of the ship when the ship docks in different positions.
These passenger gangways are very limited in terms of the type of ships that can dock at different installations. They take up a large space and make it difficult for other activities to occur on the quay area around the installation.
It is the object of the invention to provide an improved gangway bridge compared to prior art of the type mentioned by way of introduction.
Another object of the invention is to provide a gangway bridge that can be used for many different types of ships and passenger terminals. Other objects of the invention will be obvious from the following description.
These and other objects are achieved by a bridge device as defined by the independent claim 1. The dependent claims state particularly preferred embodiments of the invention.
The invention is based on a bridge device for passengers boarding and disembarking e.g. a ship comprising a frame body which defines an essentially cuboid space, a first gangway section which is adjustably suspended within and partly enclosed by the frame body, and sets of wheels arranged to support the frame body and to allow maneuverability in all directions along the quay. This bridge device allows the ship to dock in the near vicinity of the passenger terminal and still be connected via the bridge device to the passenger terminal. The maneuverability of the bridge device also allows the bridge device to be moved between different terminals and even away from the quay when not in use.
The bridge device preferably has at least a second and third gangway section which are adjustably suspended within and partly enclosed by the frame body in essentially parallel, vertical planes with a vertical plane of the first gangway section. The gangway sections are interconnected through middle gangway sections which are arranged at essentially right angles to and at opposite ends of the parallel gangway sections. Arranging the gangway sections in this manner results in a compact design of the mobile gangway in relation to prior art gangways.
Each gangway section is preferably vertically and individually adjustable. This gives the mobile gangway great flexibility in adjusting the gangway for different ships, water levels, piers and passenger terminals. Being able to adjust the gangway sections vertically results in the mobile bridge device being flexible and efficient when used for passengers boarding and/or disembarking e.g. a ship.
At least one of the gangway sections has advantageously an inner gangway section that is telescopically arranged within the gangway section. The telescopic function of the inner gangway section makes it possible for the mobile gangway to be connected to the door of a ship without getting too close to the edge of the quay or to the terminal without getting to close to the terminal.